Stock Market: Sensex Slides 273 Points, Nifty Below 17,600 Ahead Of Economic Survey. IT Stocks Slip

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, TechM, HCL Tech, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, TCS were trading in the red

The two key frontline indices, Sensex and Nifty, began Tuesday's trade on a flat note as investors looked forward to the pre-Budget Economic Survey for 2023-24. The Economic Survey report will be tabled in Parliament later today. The economic survey is likely to peg the domestic GDP growth at 6-6.8 per cent for 2023-24, according to a Reuters report. It could see the growth at 6.5 per cent for 2023-24 under the baseline scenario, which would be the slowest in three years.

The BSE Sensex, which rose around 100 points in opening trade, eventually turned flat. At 9.45 am, the S&P Sensex was down 273 points to 59,227. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,576, down 72 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, TechM, HCL Tech, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, TCS were trading in the red. On the flip side, PowerGrid, M&M, Maruti, SBI, Airtel, Reliance emerged early winners.

Among stocks, Adani Transmission hit the revised 10 per cent lower circuit, Adani Green was down 7 per cent, while Adani Enterprises held some strength with a gain of around 2 per cent. Tech M dropped 3 per cent after reporting a fall of 5.3 per cent in net profit for the third quarter of FY23 at Rs 1,297 crore.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index was also flat while the Smallcap index rose 0.2 per cent.

Within sectors, the Nifty IT index was the worst hit, which slipped 1 per cent. Metal, Auto, and PSB pockets were the top performers, rising up to 0.8 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE Sensex settled 170 points higher at 59,500. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty rose 243 points from its day's low to end at 17,649, up 45 points.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to 81.64 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by significant foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.61 against the dollar, then lost ground and fell to 81.64, registering a decline of 12 paise over its last close. In the previous session on Monday, the rupee settled at 81.52 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 102.23.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.02 per cent to $84.92 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 6,792.80 crore, according to exchange data.